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Publisher's Summary

In this best-selling expose of national policy gone wrong, America's foremost historian of education, Diane Ravitch, renounces her support for reform policies implemented over the past decade that she says are wrecking America's cherished tradition of public education. Strategies like accountability schemes based on questionable standardized tests, merit pay for teachers based on gains on the same unreliable tests, vouchers, and charter schools have been oversold as solutions for our educational problems. Policymakers pushing a market model of reform and charter schools are on the wrong track, ignoring classroom realities. The more they push these policies, Ravitch says, the more they will harm our nation's school system and undermine the quality of education.

The bipartisan No Child Left Behind program ("NCLB") implemented with a heavy political hand nationwide, has failed to improve education. It has turned our schools into testing factories to train children how to take standardized tests instead of giving them the knowledge and skills that are necessary components of a good education. The federal "sanctions" and "remedies" now mandated nationwide have unfairly stigmatized thousands of schools, putting them at risk of being closed and privatized.

The "miracles" touted by districts under the new policies vanish on close examination. Test scores in many states and districts are inflated by statistical game-playing and lowered standards. The over-emphasis on testing has all but eliminated the essential elements of a solid education, including history, civics, science, the arts, geography, literature, physical education, health education, and foreign languages. Privatization and deregulation has led predictably to some good and some bad but, on average, charters do not get better results than regular public schools-just new federal subsidies. Teacher evaluation by student test scores is a deeply flawed approach to hiring and job tenure that is driving good teachers out of public education.

The future of public education is at stake. A democratic society needs a healthy, vibrant public education system with good public schools in every neighborhood. On our current course, the schools will be privatized, deregulated, and turned over to entrepreneurs. Based on a careful review of the evidence, Ravitch says that this course of action is unlikely to improve American education.

Performance

Story

Good content excellent narrator

I originally read this in hardcover and found Ravitch gives a detailed, well-thought-out and valuable critique of new "educational initiative." However, the highest credit goes to Eliza Foss who is superb at narrating a relatively dry text, filled with facts, statistics, etc. I am impressed at how well she aries her voice and holds the listeners interest in the fact based non-fiction work.

Useful information: What's Education For?

If you could sum up The Death and Life of the Great American School System in three words, what would they be?

thought-provoking, statistical, research-based

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The description of a business model for education, as though learning were a market commodity, and the damage that model does to useful learning in our schools.

Which scene was your favorite?

The description of the New York educational "reform", and the flawed statistics that supported the results as effective.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No! Way too dense. One disadvantage of audiobooks is that a report like this, with reference to many statistics in the narrative, is difficult to follow--hard to remember what numbers were cited a few paragraphs ago. In printed books, you can just flip back.

Any additional comments?

I appreciated the fact-based investigation and arguments Ravitch offered, and will be watching our own schools to see if they can move away from "teaching to the test", a move that both of my daughters, both schoolteachers, find is an impediment to their ability to educate their students, especially in critical thinking and problem-solving.

A must read for anyone involved in School Reform

If you could sum up The Death and Life of the Great American School System in three words, what would they be?

Revealing, Provacative, Insightful

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Death and Life of the Great American School System?

Understanding the corporate influence in policy making

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator needed to speak clearly, and louder, at times she drifted into a soft whisper, and talked too sensual for the topic.

If you could give The Death and Life of the Great American School System a new subtitle, what would it be?

An expose into the forces shaping educational policy.

Any additional comments?

You must read this book, if you are in anyway involved with education. If you are concerned about the state of students today, and want to understand why and how the problems of K-12 are now fully entrenched into Higher Education, you need to be aware of the history of decentralization of school. This book is brilliant and enlightening.

<br />A must-read Diane is a true education historian

Every parent should read this book before making any educational decisions for their children very future in America's broken school system. A system where our children have become a commodity and it's all about the profits!

A welcome voice of both reason and heart

Content: As a student of Education, this is hands down one of my favorite books on education I've read during my PhD program. Performance: adequate narration, a touch slow for my taste. I usually listened to it at 1.5 speed, sometimes 1.25. Overall: Whether you are an educator, policy maker, parent, or a concerned citizen, this is a book that you should read. It's not only an important but a solid writer is at the helm. A welcome voice of both heart and reason.

Life Changing

Any additional comments?

As an educator this book has with out exaggeration changed my life. Everything this author writes has made my must read list. As I told my doctoral classmates this is a book you just can't put down like game of thrones.